Bonaire trip report (Oct 25-28...Buddy Dive sux)

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Clearly you are just THAT GUY on the net so i'll concede and you can win another internet battle with yourself. Congrats.

I consider my truck parked at the airport still being AT HOME when im 5000 miles away. Forgive me for my lack of desire to get into semantics with you. Nor do I crave "credibility" with you.

best.

No, I m not that guy. I do however read people's posts and opinions and expect their story to be consistent when they have taken the time to bash a business in a negative way on a public forum.

It doesn't take semantics to see the difference between "I forgot my card at home" and then later "well my wallet fell out in my truck at the airport" especially from someone who was so DETAILED in their report and negative opinions in the first place.

The fact is that we all read and value your opinion and take it seriously just like you did when you took suggestions from members here in the first place about Buddy Dive.

Did you tell Buddy Dive that you "forgot your card" or that "your wallet fell out of your truck?" I think they would have taken more pity on you and would have felt bad and maybe not charged you had you told them it "fell out of your truck." So ONLY your C-Card fell out of your wallet at the airport because I assume you had your wallet during vacation?

The entire experience was BAD. I offered them NUMEROUS chances to help us to feel welcomed there.

You aren't gonna like his but judging from your posts about your TOTAL bad experience, I have to assume that you were looking to have your butt kissed and Bonaire just doesn't work that way.
 
At this point im pretty much assuming you ARE Buddy Dive.

They were informed I had lost all of my wallet. As I had.
 
At this point im pretty much assuming you ARE Buddy Dive.

They were informed I had lost all of my wallet. As I had.

No, I'm not Buddy Dive. Like I said, I have stayed there once and given the price compared to what you get, we will not likely stay there again.

It just sounds to me like you went to Bonaire to do battle and not dive. Your sense of self entitlement is apparent from my computer screen.

My guess is that after being pissed about loosing or forgetting your wallet (whatever) you were so pissed that they charged you 15 bucks that you then looked for a chance to get your 15 bucks back in every interaction you had with Buddy and they could sense that and decided to just stay away from the scary American.
 
No, I'm not Buddy Dive. Like I said, I have stayed there once and given the price compared to what you get, we will not likely stay there again.

It just sounds to me like you went to Bonaire to do battle and not dive. Your sense of self entitlement is apparent from my computer screen.

My guess is that after being pissed about loosing or forgetting your wallet (whatever) you were so pissed that they charged you 15 bucks that you then looked for a chance to get your 15 bucks back in every interaction you had with Buddy and they could sense that and decided to just stay away from the scary American.

Did you want to edit that a few more times before I comment??

Ill just go now.

It's glad to see that people with your e-personality are no longer just hanging out on the Videogame and Pro Wrestling forums. Thats awesome progression. :wink:
 
Also we spent most of our time in Rincon with the locals when away from Buddy Dive. Great people!!
 
Thnx for the report and thnx for letting us know about Buddy Dive

Now, I'm still trying to decide where to stay if I want to dive Bonaire. I like polite places, they don't have to be fancy, just clean and courteous. I don't appreciate being "dinged" every step of the way. I also want the freedom to shore dive without a long walk. I guess what I'm looking for is a place that treats me well because they like people and fellow divers, and when I return they will great me like the friend I want to be. And I do expect to pay and tip. Buddy Dive does not sound like the place I want to go.

Honestly, if there is nowhere in Bonaire that can handle these simple requirements, I'll go somewhere else.

Does anyone have a suggestion for Bonaire?
 
Buddy Dive does not sound like the place I want to go.

Honestly, if there is nowhere in Bonaire that can handle these simple requirements, I'll go somewhere else.

Does anyone have a suggestion for Bonaire?

Please realize Buddy Dive have many positive and negative reviews as any place will. I haven't been there in a while but while my wife and I were there it was great. Our truck was brand new, we had unlimited nitrox tanks, and they had decent drink specials at the bar/restaurant near the pool, which also had a few dinner specials worth taking advantage of.

Our room was clean, we had a quick breakfast every morning, and then off to pick up 2 tanks each. Two dives then usually fixed lunch in the room from the local grocery store - stored in the full fridge in the room. Then pick up 4 more tanks and off to dive for the afternoon. If you plan ahead for can dive off site at night but we never did as it was so easy to dive the "house reef" for night dives.

I don't know if Buddy's has change recently but my goal was to have a nice trip where I could dive as much as my wife and I could physically handle - Buddy's made this a simple task. This was a little over a year ago. Read multiple reviews, take each with a grain of salt, as each person will have different expectations and experience, and that advice includes my our review.
 
Now, I'm still trying to decide where to stay if I want to dive Bonaire. I like polite places, they don't have to be fancy, just clean and courteous. I don't appreciate being "dinged" every step of the way. I also want the freedom to shore dive without a long walk. I guess what I'm looking for is a place that treats me well because they like people and fellow divers, and when I return they will great me like the friend I want to be. And I do expect to pay and tip. Buddy Dive does not sound like the place I want to go.

Honestly, if there is nowhere in Bonaire that can handle these simple requirements, I'll go somewhere else.

Does anyone have a suggestion for Bonaire?

BUDDY DIVE! Was there in September and going back in December! It was for us all the things above! I have over 4000 dives in 30 years and have been paid to go all over the world and I have no problems with them at all! I have stayed at the number one dive resort in the World and it may not be that, but you get out of people and places what you put in! Never felt Nickled and Dimed one time! As mentioned take things with a open mind, they are successful at what they do for a long time! If it where that bad they would have gone away a fast, it is the nature of the industry!
 
I have always felt that the biggest isn't always the best! We just returned from our first trip to Bonaire and couldn't have been happier. We had a great package at Bonaire Seaside Apartments with car and diving with Yellow Submarine.
 
We've never stayed at Buddy's either (only Den Laman), but on both of our trips we made sure to check out Buddy's, Capt Dons, the Plaza, and Divi since they are ocean front and often recommended. For us all of them were simply too big and spread out.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/peregrine/

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